Newburgh man wanted on attempted murder charge taken into custody after lengthy standoff with police

NEWBURGH, N.Y. -- Gosford Lembhard, the 26-year-old brother of Michael Lembhard, who was shot and killed by Newburgh city police last March, was taken into custody by police Wednesday afternoon after being holed up inside a two-story house at 57 Liberty St. in Newburgh since early in the morning.

Officers went to the house to arrest Lembhard around 5:30 a.m. on an attempted murder charge and he retreated to a back room with several relatives. He's accused of firing a gun at two men in September.

Other family members who spoke to him by phone said he feared he would be shot if he came out of the house.

Lembhard had said he would come out if the police allowed family lawyer attorney Michael Sussman inside by himself.

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Around 1 p.m., Sussman entered the house in hopes of talking him out and Lembhard was taken into custody about 4 p.m.

While telephone negotiations continued, a crowd of area residents grew and become more boisterous with some saying the police were waiting to shoot Lembhard when he came out.

Police wouldn't say if he was armed during the standoff that ended just before 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Lembhard's younger brother, Michael, was shot to death in a confrontation with city police in March, touching off sometimes violent protests and heightening tensions between some residents and police.